Stop valve



Feb. 13, l1951 G. J. oEsTRr-:ICHER STOP VALVE Filed Feb. l5, 1945 FIG. 1

IN VEN TOR. 0f; rf/mf/r @n/Jl v 6in/raf J.' BY

[bronnen Patented Feb. 13, 1951 Unirse srArss rarest trice;

STOP VALVE George'Ji Oestreicher, Cleveland, Cahir);` Gertrude' E. Oest'reich'er, executrix of' said George J.

Oestrei'cher, deceased, assigner to Gertrude E. Oestreicher, Cleveland, Ohio- Application February 15, 1945,- Serial l\lo.i'77,9"7'9N 3 Claims.- (Cl. 251-417) Thisk invention relates to stopt valves having rotatable plugs, moreparticularly such' a valve having a body to be attached to conduits and a tapered plug having an opening through it adapted to effect communication between Such conduits or prevent such communication according to the position of theplug. The object or the invention is to provide simple and effective means for releasing the plug slightly from its seat preliminary to its being turned to enableit to. be readily turned manually.

My stop valve is adapted` for use, for'example, on sanitary pipe lines suchY as employed in dairies, breweries, and the like, where the valve must be of considerable size and hence with the plug tightly seated wouldrequire considerable force to turn the plug.

My invention is an improvement of the stop valve shown in my prior Patent No. 2,187,477, granted to me January. 16,1940. Unlike the structure shown in that patent, the valve of the present invention is providedwith a spring to maintain the tapered plug normally seated in the conical cavity in the valve wall, and is provided with means for moving the plug axially against` the resistance of such springs to free its tight en gagement with the valve body, it being an object oiV the invention to provide such means in a veryv simple and readily operable'form.`

A- further object ci the invention is to provide a suitable anti-friction betiveenthe plug-freeing mechanism and the plug, whereby the plug may be readily turned notwithstanding a shoulder thereon is abutted to withdraw tlieplug from its seat.

My invention is hereinafter more fully eX- o plained in connection with the accompanying drawings and the essential novel features are summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig, 1 isan axial section throughstop valve, with the plug seated and in position to eiect communication between the conduits; Fig. Z'is a side elevation, partly broken away, of the valve with the plug raised slightly to enable its ready turning, the amount of clearance between the plug and body being exaggerated in this View for clearness of illustration; Fig. 3 is a cross section of the valve body and plug in a plane indicated by the line 3 3 on Fig. l.

Referring to the drawing, the valve comprises a hollow body i having a central tapered axial bore 2 opening through the upper and lower ends of the body I. The body has attachment portions 3 and 4 having passages 5 and 6, respectively, one of which passages comprises an inlet passage to4 the central bore, and th'e other of which comprises an outlet passage'.

At its lower end, the body I' has a'iiat, annular shoulder portion l, and a corresponding shoulder 8 is provided at they upper end of thev body; Mounted within the bodyv in-the centra-l bore 2` is a valve plug it having a diametral' passage il therethrough which is arranged to connectf with the passages 5 and Elin one rotated? position of the plug iii* The plug It is tapered from its'` upper or head end toward its lower or'tailf end, so as tor'itY in sealingrelatioir with.` the wallwof the. bore 2.

Secured to the upper and'` lowerends off the.

valve body are plates wand 2l, there being interposed gaskets lfandV Ui; These end-plates sur-V round axial stems lil andli extending. upwardly.vv and'downwardly from the plug.- An extensionv 22 on the top-plate 2t' carriesv packing gland 23 embracingthestem/ lli, and an extension Z'ilf Secured to the upper end of the upperstem Iii'L of the plug by a hub 3d is a handlevl byl which the plug maybe manually rotated to connect or' interrupt the passages aand-t.v

Threaded on the extension-.22.01" the top plate` 29 is a sleeve de having an operating hand-le 4t This sleeve has an intermediatelyv located partition Il? leaving` a recess above it, and in this recess is mountedfa ball bearing. As shown, vthisbearing comprises a flower washer fl'lhaving -an vaninilar groove in its upper face, an annular rowofballs ds--resting in said groove, andfarnupperwasherl l5 :having an annular groove ori-fits underiace envgaging-said rowof balls.

When the plug is seated, there clearance between its upper end and the underface of the plate 2d, as shown at i8 in Fig. 1, and this clearance allows the plug to be moved upward slightly, as shown in exaggerated form in Fig. 2, to cause its tapered surface to become free from the tapered seat of the valve body.

The upward movement of the valve plug to free it from the body is readily effected by turning the handle 4| in the direction to cause the sleeve 4D to rise, so that the ball bearing carried thereby abuts the underface of the hub 30 of the handle 3|. After such engagement further turn` the screw-threaded sleeve 40 enables the spring 21 to re-seat the plug.

Shut-oir valves having tapered plugs normally maintained on their seats by external compression springs have been in use for a long time and are effective to maintain the plug tightly on its seat, which is of special importance when the plug is in the closing position. My mechanism for moving such plug axially a slight distance enables a plug to be readily turned notwithstanding the spring has suiiicient force to maintain it norz?.

mally very tightly on its seat. In valves that are frequently used in the oil elds, gasoline industry, or for liquid or steam where high pressure valves are required, the spring retention of the plug on its seat frequently makes it diicult to turn the plug. My mechanism, however, frees the plug from the seat with a minimum of friction between the parts which eiect the freeing action, so that the plug may be turned with very little eiort.

I'claim:

1. A stop valve comprising a hollow body having an internal seat and passageways leading thereto, a plug adapted to be mounted on said seat and having a passageway adapted to connect the passageways of the body or prevent communication according to the position of the plug, said body having fiat surfaces at the opposite ends of its seat, a pair of end plates secured to the respective ends of the body and each having an outward extension carrying a packing gland, the plug having stems extending from its opposite ends through the respective packing glands, a spring surrounding one of the stems and compressed between an abutment thereon and the outer surface of the adjacent end plate, a lever on the other stem and means on the extension adapted to abut the lever to withdraw the plug from its seat.

2. A valve of the character described comprising a body having a tapered seat and passageways leading to and from the seat, said body having a flat top and bottom, a, tapered plug adapted to occupy the seat and having stems extending upwardly and downwardly from its opposite ends, a plate secured to the top of the body and having a tubular extension surrounding the upwardly extending stem, a plate secured to the bottom of the body having a tubular extension surrounding the downwardly extending stem, packing glands carried by the tubular extensions, a helical compression spring surrounding the downwardly extending stem and compressed between the cap at that end and a nut at that stem, a sleeve threaded on the extension of the plate at the top of the valve body, a ball bearing mounted in the upper portion of the sleeve and surrounding the stem, a hand lever having a hub secured to the latter stem above the ball bearing, and a hand lever secured to said sleeve whereby it may be rotated to shove the bearing against the hub of the stem lever to withdraw the plug from its seat.

3. A stop valve having, in combination a tapered internal seat and passageways leading thereto, a tapered plug associated with said seat and having a passageway adapted to connect the passageways of the valve or prevent communication according to the position of the plug, said plug having stems extending upwardly and downwardly from its opposite ends, closures at the opposite ends of the valve chamber each having a tubular extension surrounding one of the stems and carrying packing glands thereon, a helical compiession spring surrounding one of the tubular extensions and positioned between the closure at that end and a nut on that stem to maintain the plug seated, a hand lever having a hub secured to the opposite stem, and a hand lever movably mounted on the tubular extension of the other closure, and carrying anti-friction bearings adjacent said hub, means for causing an axial movement of the last mentioned lever consequent upon its rotation, whereby the rotation of the last-named lever may lift the plug axially of its seat and the rotation of the firstnamed lever may rotate the plug with respect to said seat.

GEORGE J. OESTREICHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following referencesY are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 3,152 Davis Oct. 6, 1868 632,934 Ashley Sept. 12, 1899 859,573 McMillan July 9, 1907 924,270 Paterson June 8, 1909 1,891,759 Flodin Dec. 20, 1932 2,060,388 Whittle Nov. 10, 1935 2,147,851 Mallon Feb. 2l, 1939 2,187,477 Oestreicher Jan. 16, 1940 2,345,073 Rosett Mar. 28, 1944 2,419,647 Jacobsen Apr. 29, 1947 2,421,969 Shelly June 10, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 670,524 France Aug. 19, 1929 804,885 France Aug. 10, 1936 

